1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a multi-part, hollow chamber seal for sealing a rectangular cover relative to the edge of a rectangular motor vehicle roof opening with a connecting part for connecting a sealing part which runs around a comer to a sealing part, which adjoins it via a seam, the connecting part being in the form of a connecting tube which penetrates the seam and which is inserted into the hollow chambers of the two sealing parts.
2. Description of Related Art
A hollow chamber seal of the initially mentioned type is known from German Patent DE 39 40 013 C2 and is formed of two U-shaped sealing parts of identical profile with seams in the area of the narrow sides of the rectangular hollow chamber seal, an adhesive tube piece being used as the connection part for joining the two sealing parts. This adhesive tube piece is made short and ends within each sealing part at a short distance from the respective seam. In particular, the respective connecting site is located adjoining the rounded corner area of the sealing part in a section which runs in a straight line. The short adhesive tube piece performs its function as a connecting part within the sealing part ends which abut one another. However, the disadvantage in this known hollow chamber seal is that it is not suited for reliably preventing airstream noise in the curved comer areas in which the seal runs. This is especially the case because the seal, at these critical sites, is exposed to a strong wind load which presses in the hollow sealing bodies, and thus, causes airstream noise. In addition, the hollow chamber seals on this critical end area can be permanently deformed during installation because the hollow chamber wall is not very resistant to the forces acting on it. This also leads to unwanted airstream noise at the indicated critical sites of the hollow chamber seal between the closed cover and the motor vehicle roof opening.
In view of this prior art, the object of the invention is to devise a hollow chamber seal of the initially mentioned type which also performs a reliable sealing function at the critical comer areas, and especially prevents the formation of airstream noise.
This object is achieved by the feature that the connecting tube extends around the entire bend of the sealing part which runs around the comer of the roof opening.
According to the invention, the connecting tube is placed in the critical bending section of the multi-part hollow chamber seal and extends around the entire bend so that the hollow chamber seal is supported by the connecting tube which is located in its hollow chamber in the entire bending area. This controlled stiffening of the hollow chamber seal in the comer area, on the one hand, prevents the hollow chamber seal from being attached during installation in permanently pinched form there, while on the other hand, the stiffening of the hollow chamber of the seal ensures that the wind load cannot press in the seal there. Airstream noise is thus effectively eliminated in the critical comer area of the hollow chamber seal.
The seam penetrated by the connecting tube between the bordering hollow chamber seal parts is located preferably on the straight front part of the seal, i.e., in the area of the front edge of the cover for closing the motor vehicle roof opening. This further contributes to the elimination of airstream noise.
In order to permanently ensure the sealing function in the area of the seam, the corresponding sealing parts are cemented to one another on the seam. Alternatively or in addition thereto, the connecting tube can be cemented in the area of the seam to the inside walls of the two bordering sealing parts.
The connecting tube is preferably a rubber tube with elasticity which is chosen such that the hollow chamber seal has the desired elasticity and strength in the comer area.
In the following, the invention is explained using the drawings which show a preferred embodiment of the invention by way of example.
The sole FIGURE of the drawings schematically shows, in an exploded view, one embodiment of the multi-part hollow chamber seal for sealing a rectangular cover relative to the edge of a correspondingly rectangular motor vehicle opening which is not shown in the FIGURE.